Loebsack defeated Joe Seng in the Democratic primary on June 5, 2012 and was re-elected on November 6, 2012.[1][2]

Based on analysis of multiple outside rankings, Loebsack is an average Democratic member of Congress, meaning he will vote with the Democratic Party on the majority of bills.

Biography

Loebsack was born in 1952 in Sioux City, Iowa, where he also attended high school. He earned his B.S. and M.A. Iowa State University in 1974 and 1976, respectively, and received his Ph.D. from UC Davis in 1985. Prior to his political career, Loebsack worked as a professor of political science.[3]

Issues

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Loebsack voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 172 Democrats that voted in favor of the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.[6]

Polls

Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign themes

The issues below are highlighted on Loebsack's campaign website.

Jobs

Excerpt: "We must take our economy back and ensure that the people on Main Street, the ordinary people who are the backbone of this nation, are able to once again live in a country where the American Dream is attainable."[10]

Education

Excerpt: "As the husband of a retired teacher, I am committed to increasing state and local flexibility
balanced with strategic federal support and safeguards so that all Iowa students receive a top-quality education."[11]

Tax Relief

Excerpt: "In order to help Iowa families and small businesses move forward, I have pushed for a number of tax cuts and incentives. That includes tax cuts to help small businesses hire and invest in the equipment that will help them grow, as well as providing tax credits to employers who hire veterans."[12]

Healthcare

Excerpt: "I believe in a health care system that puts patients before insurance company profits. As a result of health care reform, insurers can no longer drop Iowans’ coverage when they get sick or deny coverage to children because of a preexisting condition."[13]

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for Dave Loebsack, click [show] to expand the section.

2010

On November 2, 2010, Dave Loebsack won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R), Gary Sicard (L) and Jon Tack (C) in the general election.[14]

U.S. House, Iowa District 2 General Election, 2010

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Dave Loebsackincumbent

51%

115,839

Republican

Mariannette Miller-Meeks

45.9%

104,319

Libertarian

Gary Sicard

1.9%

4,356

Constitution

Jon Tack

1.1%

2,463

N/A

Write-In

0.1%

198

Total Votes

227,175

2008

On November 4, 2008, Dave Loebsack won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R), Wendy Barth (G) and Brian White (No Party Affiliation) in the general election.[15]

U.S. House, Iowa District 2 General Election, 2008

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Dave Loebsackincumbent

57.2%

175,218

Republican

Mariannette Miller-Meeks

38.8%

118,778

Green

Wendy Barth

2.2%

6,664

Independent

Brian White

1.8%

5,437

Total Votes

306,097

2006

On November 7, 2006, Dave Loebsack won election to the United States House. He defeated James A. Leach (R) in the general election.[16]

U.S. House, Iowa District 2 General Election, 2006

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Dave Loebsack

51.4%

107,683

Republican

James A. Leach incumbent

48.6%

101,707

Total Votes

209,390

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Loebsack is available dating back to 2006. Based on available campaign finance records, Loebsack raised a total of $4,093,410 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 7, 2013.[17]

2012

Breakdown of the source of Loebsack's campaign funds before the 2012 election.

Loebsack won re-election to the U.S. House in 2012. During that election cycle, Loebsack's campaign committee raised a total of $1,562,539 and spent $1,544,560.[21] This is more than the average $1.5 million spent by House winners in 2012.[22]

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Loebsack missed 133 of 5,226 roll call votes from Jan 2007 to Mar 2013. This amounts to 2.5%, which is worse than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of March 2013.[26]

Congressional staff salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Loebsack paid his congressional staff a total of $941,229 in 2011. He ranked 45th on the list of the lowest paid Democratic representative staff salaries and ranked 192nd overall of the lowest paid representative staff salaries in 2011. Overall, Iowa ranked 16th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[27]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Larson's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $198,016 and $671,000. That averages to $434,508, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic representatives in 2011 of $5,107,874. His average net worth decreased by 12.93% from 2010.[28]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Loebsack's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $228,017 and $770,000. That averages to $499,008.50, which was lower than the average net worth of Democratic representatives in 2010 of $4,465,875.[29]